February 09, 2015

Welcome! My first order of business is to share the winner of my gray Copic t-shirt, and that would be commenter number 22, Lynn Gauthier:Congratulations, Lynn! I have emailed you for your address. Thank you to everyone who offered class suggestions and welcome Jenn as well!

I needed a few guy-appropriate birthday cards and thought that relatively clean and simple was probably the way to go. First I used several Copic Various Inks "smooshed" on glossy cardstock and sprayed randomly with Copic Colorless Blender to spread and blend the ink. I cut that inked panel into strips, and then heat-embossed a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Stylish Sentiments: Birthday stamp set.

I kept the backgrounds simple as well--Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores cardstock, embossed with either a Linen and Canvas impression plate, or the one that you see on the card that is standing up, which I can't find when I search for "impression plate" right now--sorry!! (Hey, use the impression plates that you have--that's what I do!) I rounded the bottom corners, stamped a sentiment inside, and I was good to go.

Thank you again for participating in the Copic shirt giveaway and welcome post,

January 23, 2015

Welcome! We're having pretty decent weather for the U.P.--it's above zero for the foreseeable future. However, it's definitely still snowman weather here for many weeks to come! That means that I can use snowmen on thank you cards, right? Today I have another thank you card to share, this one using Papertrey Ink's PomPom Pals stamp set for the focal image, and Inside and Outside Thank You for the sentiment on the card front.

I thought I'd show you again how to leave part of an image extending past a die-cut shape. I generally use about three layers of cardstock between the die blade and the piece of cardstock on which my image is stamped, in just the area that I want to avoid cutting. I then send the image and die sandwich through my machine as normal.

When I remove the die, the scrap pieces of cardstock have shielded the part of the image that extends, and it should look like my picture above.

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used to color the snowman image. (Click to enlarge, as always.)

January 10, 2015

Welcome! I'm in Anaheim for Copic classes and CHA, though I probably won't have a c chance to go see the trade show until tomorrow. The weather is is definitely a nice change of pace! Right before I left home, I was working on a stack of thank you notes, some suitable for me to send, and some suitable for my teenage son to send. I had ordered Papertrey's No Strings Attached stamp set several weeks ago but hadn't had a chance to use it much. I thought it would be perfect for some simple thank you notes--the non-lumpy kind since the new guy at the Quinnesec post office loves to charge me extra for any lump he can feel through the envelope--even a tiny little string! (This probably won't pass either, since I have a thin piece of foam tape underneath my tag, but a girl can always hope. . . ;-)

For the tag's sentiment, I used Mega Mixed Messages. To cut my tags, I usd Spellbinders Back to Basics die templates. I used PTI's Happy Spots patterned paper for the wrapped gift part of the card front--time to USE some of the stash!

This stack is for my son to send out. I wasn't sure that he would go for the pastel polka dotted paper, so I kept his simple with white and pale aqua tones. I used a Spellbinders A-2 Matting Basics A to cut my "gift" layer, along with Pierced Rectangles on some of the card bases to frame the gift layer.

That's it for tonight--easy-peasy thank you notes! Thanks for visiting,

Edited to Add: Cindy H. asked and excellent question that I had meant to explain in this post. Basically she asked how I aligned the string on the tag with the string on the patterned paper below it. Here's my answer:

I stamped the strings and bow on the patterned paper first; and then after stamping and die-cutting the tag, I laid a piece of clear acetate (like the clear stamp carrier plastic pieces that we all have so many of) on TOP of the stamped patterned paper, put my tag where I wanted it in relationship to the staring on the patterned paper, then lined up with the bow string below and stamped it again. Easy-Peasy!!

January 01, 2015

Welcome! I have to confess that I'm having a hard time getting back into a routine around here. But I've been putzing around in my studio for the last couple of days, and it's starting to feel a little more natural again. Do you have a hard time shifting gears after holidays? As much as I enjoy making Christmas cards, I am ready for something fresh and Spring-y--not that we will see Spring in the U.P. of Michigan for a few months yet!

Today's card needed to be a cheery one, and what's more cheery than pink flowers? Also, I wanted to play with some of the new dies that are sitting in boxes on my studio floor, begging to be labeled and put away. I started with my background, using a mask cut with Spellbinders Basic Lattice, and airbrushed with a Copic Airbrush System and Copic YR04, YR07, RV02, and RV06. Next I cut and embossed the background layer with Pierced Rectangles. (You know I'm addicted to that die set, right?) I used Baby Buntings to cut my pink bunting from PTI's Hibiscus Burst cardstock, then stamped it in Raspberry Fizz ink with Background Basics: Twinkle. The sentiment is from Keep It Simple: Get Well, cut and embossed with a die from Nested Lacey Pennants. The flower is made with Urban Blooms die templates and Hibiscus Burst , Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, and Heavyweight Vellum cardstock (PTI). That's about it--a lot of mixing and matching, but at least it's cheery!

I hope you have a great weekend and a Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting,

December 23, 2014

So, we're in the home stretch. I mean, as long as I pass a few more Christmas cards out at church tomorrow night, they're still on time, right? I spent a week away from home recently, so I'm not going to sweat the fact that I have a few cards left to mail that won't make it in time for Christmas.

I'm pretty sure that this is my last batch of the year. I had to keep them simple in order to finish them. Stamp sets used were all from my PTI stash, and most of them were older sets, except for the Fair Isle Motifs set that I used in the background.

That's it for now--I need to go address a few more cards. . . I hope that you are having a great week and getting to spend some quality time with your family and friends. Thanks for visiting, and Merry Christmas!

December 16, 2014

Welcome! I'm headed home from South Carolina today; it was great to get to spend some time with my parents, but Benjamin and I will be glad to get back home as well. How about another clean and fairly simple Christmas card today? What I really need to do is to stop making cards and start addressing them. . . but making them is so much more fun than addressing them!

Ink colors are Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores for the focal square, and Ocean Tides for the sentiment. Cardstock is Aqua Mist and Stampers Select White. Again, I used cotton crochet thread to keep the thickness down for mailing purposes. I may make a few more of these cards; it was easy, but I still liked it. I hope that you are having a great week--thanks for visiting!

December 13, 2014

Welcome! I'm still in South Carolina for a few more days, but I thought I'd sneak a few minutes to finish up a blog post. I'm sure I've mentioned in the past how much I dislike doing mass production. . . For me, making three cards mostly alike IS mass production! What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures--even mass production. ;-)

Spellbinders dies that I used were Standard Circles Large , Back to Basics Tags, and Pierced Rectangles. Inks were PTI's Pinefeather and Pure Poppy. I used Natural Rustic Twine rather than ribbon, hoping to keep the thickness within regular postal thickness limits; and I used a glue pen and red glitter on the berries. That's about it--easy! I hope you're having a great weekend. Thanks for visiting,

December 07, 2014

Welcome! I've been playing with a new Papertrey Ink stamp set, Pompom Pals--this little guy is the cutest! Before I talk about him, I want to let you know about some upcoming Copic Marker classes in both Anaheim and Phoenix. For more information on Copic Certification Classes, check HERE, and on Copic Color and Ink Workshops, check HERE. By the way, you do NOT have to be attending CHA to attend the Anaheim classes. I will be attending CHA, and if you will be there, and I'd love to meet you. I'm teaching the Phoenix Standard and Intermediate Certification Classes on February 6-7 and hope to meet some of you there as well.

On to my little Pompom Pals reindeer card: I love all three of the Pompom Pals images, but the reindeer is my favorite! (Maybe after I have a chance to play with the other two, that will change.) Edited to add: When I linked to the Pompom Pals stamp set, I saw that it is now backordered. If you want it, you can sign up, and PTI will notify you when it is back in stock. I've had to do that before too. ;-)

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used to color the Pompom Pals reindeer image. I looked for pompoms locally, but had no luck finding the smaller sized ones. I've ordered some from Amazon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd just color his nose. If that hadn't worked, plan C was a red button, but I liked how it turned out, so I didn't need the button. :-) I used a glue pen and some fine glitter on the stars, and I used my Clear Spica Glitter pen to trace the lines on his scarf for a little extra sparkle.

I used a few Spellbinders dies with the reindeer--Standard Circles SM to cut the circle of the image, Fleur de Elegance for his little Kraft frame, Pierced Rectangles for the faux stitching on the panels, and Classic Ovals LG for the sentiment panel. I wanted to fussy-cut and pop up the reindeer and his scarf with foam tape, so I didn't have to worry about selectively cutting with my circle die.

Patterned papers are from Bo Bunny's Elf Magic collection. I've been wanting to use them for a while and thought that Rudy here was a perfect fit.

In other news, my son and I are headed down to South Carolina to visit with my parents this coming week. I have a couple of things I can post while I'm gone, but mostly, we plan to enjoy time with family. I hope you are having a great December! Thanks for visiting,

I ordered three new Papertrey Ink stamp sets. . . Couldn't help myself. ;-) So far I've pulled out only one of the new ones, Fair Isle Motifs, and I've been mixing and matching it with older PTI stamp sets. Here I stamped a strip from Fair Isle Motifs in Pure Poppy ink on Rustic Cream cardstock. The little Merry Christmas banner is a sentiment from the Love Lives Here Holiday stamp set. I really wanted to tie a tiny jingle bell onto my bow, but I knew that mailing would be an issue if I did that. Then I discovered that the little ornament in PTI's Love Lives Here: Holiday stamp set was almost a perfect match for the smallest tag in my Spellbinders Back to Basics Tags die template set--woohoo!

I had a banner die (Nested Lacey Pennants) that was wide enough, but not quite long enough for my sentiment; so I did a partial die cut, knowing that it would be simple enough to continue the straight lines with my paper cutter. I sent my die sandwich t through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur as shown above, and came out with the cut shown below.

You can see where the cut stops; I simple aligned the sides up with the edge of my paper cutter to make the banner longer.

That stitched-looking edge was cut with the Spellbinders Celebrations Pierced Rectangles die--you know how much I love stitching, and this is a great shortcut when I don't want to pull my sewing machine out. The inside sentiment is from Beautiful Blessings: Holiday stamp set. A little bit of glitter and rustic twine, and I have four more cards for my stash--mailable, even! I will try to get my pictures edited for the airbrushed version of my Tudor Rose Card Front so that I can post that in the next day or two.

November 01, 2014

Welcome! How about a clean and simple birthday card today? I was playing with my Copic Various Inks (reinkers) and glossy cardstock, along with an acrylic block and a spritzer filled with Copic colorless blender. That's where the pinkish-purple color swatch came from. Other that that, all I needed was a stamped sentiment, Papertrey Ink's Sentiment Signs Stamp Set, and a Versamark pad with white embossing powder. (I usually use an embossing buddy over the ink swatch before I sprinkle embossing powder on it, just in case the ink has a sticky patch.)

Since I had used a simple sentiment, I wanted to use an equally simple die to cut and emboss my front panel; Spellbinders A-2 Matting Basics A to the rescue again! I think that's one of my most used dies for adding "a little something" or containing the edges inconspicuously. I used the same Copic Various inks on the seam binding that I had used on the glossy cardstock so that the ribbon would coordinate with the ink swatch on the front panel. Rule of Thumb: When you are playing with color choices, keep in mind that colors that are near each other on the color wheel are less likely to turn muddy than colors across from each other on the color wheel. So it's easier to combine something like blue/blue-green/green than it is to combine complementary colors like blue and orange, for example. I hope that helps when you experiment with your alcohol inks on glossy cardstock! Thanks for stopping by,

My Art Journal Blog

FTC Disclosure Statement

In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently work as a freelance designer in some capacity for the following companies: Imagination International, Inc. (Copic Markers), JustRite Papercraft, and Spellbinders Paper Arts. While I am compensated by these companies, either monetarily or in product, I maintain the freedom as an independent designer to say what I truly think of their products. I will never recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy.